End-gate



(No Model.)

J. C.' MILNES. BND GATE. No. 589,665. Patented Sept. 7,1897.

UNITED' STATES PATENT @Finca JOHN COOPER MILNES, F KANSASCITY, llllSS'OURl.

END-GATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 589,665, dated September?, 189'?.

Application filed December 12,*1896. Serial No. 615,507. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern,.- i

Be it known that I, JOHN Co'orEn'MILNEs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Kansas City, in the county of Jackson and State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful End-Gate, of which the following is a speci- ,iication My invention relates to end-gates of the sectional or folding type, and has for its object to provide a simple and efficient construction and arrangement of parts whereby the 1nernbers are inseparable to avoid disconnection by jolting, and, furthermore,to provide means for protecting the main or sectional member of the gate to prevent the splitting or other injury thereof by the contact therewith of tongues approaching the same from the rear.

Further objects and advantages of this invention Will appear in the following descriptionJ and the novel features thereof will be `particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of an endggate constructed in accordance With my invention applied in the operative position to a vehicle-body. Fig. 2 is a transverse horizontal section of the end-gate and the contiguous portions of the'sides'of the Wagon-body. Fig. 3 is a detail view in perspective of the socket employed upon one side of the Wagon-body for receiving a collar on the locking-rod. Fig. 4; is a similar view of a socket employed upon the opposite side of the Wagon-body for seating the nut, which is threaded upon said locking-rod.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the iigures of the drawings.

l designates the sides of a wagonbody, which are provided with guides 2, formed by front and rear vertical guide-bars 3 and 4, said guides being adapted for the reception of the extremities of the main or body portion 5 of the end-gate. This main or body portion of the end-gate is of sectional construction, having the members and l5', which are hinged together; as at (3, and are adapted to fold, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 2, to remove their extremities from the guides and thereby avoid raising the gate to the upper extremities of said guides.

In order to secure the sections of the main or body portion of the end-gate in their normal relative positions in a common transverse plane, I employ a shield or protecting portion 7, consisting of a board Which is permanently secured to one of the sections of the main or body portion of the end-gate and is approximately coextensive with the end-gate 4to protect the same from contact with the tongues of other vehicles approaching from the rear.. This protecting portion or shield 7 is braced by means of transverse cleats 8, having alined bearings for the reception of a locking-rod 9, said locking-rod being of suoli length as to entend through openings formed in the sides of the vehicle-body.

The locking-rod is provided at one en d with a shoulder or enlargement l0, adapted to be fitted in a scat l1, formed in a socket-plate l2, which is secured to the contiguous side of the vehicle, said socket-plate being provided with a horizontal slot 13 in registration with a corresponding slot in the side of the vehicle to provide for the introduction of the locking-rod from the rear or transversely. vSecured to the opposite side of the vehicle is a similar socket-platelet, having au angular seat l5 vto receive a nut 16, which is threaded upon the contiguous extremity of the lockingrod, said socket-plate 14 being also provided with a horizontal slot 17, arranged in registration With a lcorresponding slot in the side of the vehicle to facilitate the introduction of the locking-rod. The extremity of the lockingnnd contiguous to the nut is preferably sWa-ged or enlarged, as shown at 1S, to prevent the removal of the nut, and the opposite extremityl of the locking-rod, contiguous to the shoulder or enlargement l0, is provided With a Weighted handle l9,whicl1 is held by gravity in a pendent position and thereby prevents the locking-rod from turning by reasonof the jarring of the vehicle.

lVhen it is desired to remove an end-gate constructed in accordance with in yinvention, the locking-rod is turned until the shoulder thereof leaves its socket, after which the contiguous end of the rod is swung rearwardly to break the end-gate at its joint 6. This leaves the lockingrod free to be moved longitudinally to unseat the nut when the device IOO (than which there is no other locking device) i are removable together.

A further advantage of the construction resides in the fact that inasmuch as the protecting portion or shield is approximately coextensive with the main or body portion of the end-gate the latter is protected at all times from .contact with objects, such as Wagon-tongues, approaching the vehicle from the rear, it being a common occurrence for the tongue of lthe following vehicle to strike and split the end-gate of apreceding vehicle. Furthermore, it will be seen that in addition to preventing rearward displacement of the end-gate when the parts are arranged in their normal positions, the locking-rod prevents vertical vibration thereof, and thus prevent-s the loss of .the ,contents of the vehicle due to the Working thereof between the lower edge of the end-gate and the floor of the body.

Having described my invention, what I A sectional end-gate adapted to be fitted terminally in vertical guides on the sides or' a Wagonubody, said sections being hinged together; a shield, approximately coeXtensive with the end-gate, secured to one of the sections to overlap the other and provided With horizontally-alined closed bearings; a locking-rod permanently mounted in said bearings and extending terminally through horizontal slots, openl at their rear ends, in the sides of the Wagon-body, to allow the endgate with the attached rod to be removed rearwardly 5 socket plates secured to the sides of the Wagon-body and provided respectively with angular and round seats and communicating slots which register with the slots in the sides of the Wagon-body; the said locking-rod being iprovided -With a shoulder' or enlargement l0 to fit in the round seat. and a nut threaded upon the'locking-rodcontiguous to and adapted to be fitted in said angular seat, said locking-rod being provided at the shouldered ,end with a fixed handle 19 and at the nntfengaged ,end withahead 18 to prevent .disengagement of the nut; subst-antially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the Aforegggoing as my own I have hereto afxed my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

JOHN COOPER MILNES.

Vitnesses:

L. J. ALLEN, D. XV. PATroN. 

